Many PC owners wonder when it might be the best time to upgrade parts of their setup that are perhaps getting a little long in the tooth. The answer to that is relatively simple: whenever there’s a good sale. A bunch of Samsung monitors are currently up to 33 percent off over at Amazon. Among them is the 27-inch Samsung Smart Monitor M8, which has dropped to a record low of $480. That’s 26 percent off the regular price.

The M8 can double as a 4K streaming TV, since it has native support for apps including Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+. Through Samsung TV Plus, you can access a selection of free live and on-demand programming. In addition, you'll be able to stream games from the likes of Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now. They should run fairly smoothly too, thanks to the 60Hz refresh rate.

Of course, you can use the Smart Monitor M8 for productivity too. For tasks such as web browsing and document editing, you won't even need to hook up a PC. The M8 offers options to connect to another PC remotely, access the Microsoft Office 365 suite and even use the desktop mode of Samsung mobile devices thanks to the DeX feature. There's a built-in camera for video calls too. Moreover, you can use the M8 to control various smart home devices.

In case you don't need all those bells and whistles and you're just looking for a solid monitor that can get the job done on a tighter budget, a 22-inch 1080p model may do the trick. A T350 Series monitor has dropped by a third to $100, which is almost a record low for that model.

It has a decent 75Hz refresh rate and an IPS panel that Samsung claims will support a wide variety of viewing angles. FreeSync will help reduce screen tearing if you have a compatible AMD CPU, while the response time of 5ms isn't too bad for gaming.

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As promised, Xbox offered the first details on MachineGames' Indiana Jones project during its Developer Direct stream on Thursday. It also confirmed the game's title — Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — and revealed that it's coming to Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming later this year.

No prizes for those who guessed that it's an action-adventure game that will see Indy try to stop some bad guys who are in pursuit of a mysterious power. The story takes place in 1937, between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The McGuffin powerful force in question is connected to something called The Great Circle — a perfect circle around the globe that links human-built ancient sites of "great spiritual significance." 

The first gameplay trailer shows Indy from a first-person perspective as he explores the pyramids of Egypt, traverses snowy mountain tops, sneaks around enemy strongholds and generally tries to stay alive in the face of mortal doom. He also uses his whip to trip up a bad guy (who lets out a Wilhelm scream in the process), punches some Nazis in the face and leaps from one airborne biplane to another. 

In cutscenes and some platforming sequences, the camera will pull back to let you get a better look at the legendary archaeologist. The game uses Harrison Ford's likeness, but video game stalwart Troy Baker provides the character's voice.

It's early days but MachineGames, with the help of Bethesda's Todd Howard as executive producer, seems to have gotten the look, feel and sound of an Indiana Jones adventure just about right. We'll find out just how well they've pulled off that tough task when the game comes out later this year, but Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has just become one of my most anticipated games.

Behaviour Interactive is the latest notable game developer to lay off workers. The Dead by Daylight studio confirmed to Game Developer that the cuts affected less than three percent of the total workforce. Kotaku first reported on the layoffs, stating that they took place earlier this month and affected around 45 people across several departments. It initially appeared that the layoffs were limited to Behaviour's Montreal headquarters, but the publisher hasn't confirmed whether that's the case.

"Recently, changing market conditions necessitated adjusting the scope of several Behaviour projects," Behaviour told the publications in a statement. "In these situations, our preference is always to reassign talent to other projects. Unfortunately, this option is not always available to us. These departures represented less than three percent of our total workforce."

Behaviour bought several studios last year, including ones in the UK and the Netherlands as part of a deeper expansion into Europe. While much of the company's focus is on Dead by Daylight (a new Alan Wake-focused chapter will arrive later this month), it has been working on other projects, such as last year's Meet Your Maker.

According to estimates, more than 9,000 workers in the video games industry were laid off in 2023. We're just 18 days into 2024, and there have already been more than 3,000 layoffs at gaming and gaming-adjacent companies (including Twitch and Discord). Unity alone is reducing its headcount by around 1,800 — a quarter of its workforce.

Activision has taken aim at Call of Duty cheaters in a swathe of novel and often hilarious ways over the last few years, from cutting their parachutes so they splat onto the ground in Warzone to straight up taking their guns away. The latest tactic targets those who use illicit tools to activate aim assist while playing with a mouse and keyboard.

The Ricochet anti-cheat team says that when its security detection systems spot such players, the Call of Duty app will simply close itself. No clever trick like cloning another real player from elsewhere in the match. The game will just shut down. "Repeated use of these tools may lead to further account action," the Ricochet group wrote on X. In other words, Activision will likely suspend or permanently ban persistent offenders.

As always, the idea behind this tactic is to level the playing field for everyone. Aim assist is a feature primarily designed for console or controller players to make up for the greater accuracy afforded by a mouse. While this most recent effort to frustrate bad actors won't solve all of Call of Duty's cheating problems (wallhacks still seem to be an issue), annoying cheaters into perhaps changing their habits continues to be a very funny strategy on Activision's part.

Instagram has revealed its latest mindfulness feature targeted at teens. When a younger user scrolls for more than 10 minutes in the likes of Reels or their direct messages, the app will suggest that they close the app and get to bed.

These "Nighttime Nudges" will automatically appear on teens' accounts and it won't be possible to switch them off. Instagram didn't specify whether the feature will be enabled for all teenagers or only under-18s. 

The idea, according to Instagram, is to give teens who aren't already using features such as Take a Break reminders to close the app for the night. "We want teens to leave Instagram feeling like the time they spend on the app is meaningful and intentional, and we know sleep is particularly important for young people," Instagram said.

The new tool follows other features Instagram has rolled out to help teens and their parents manage time spent on the app. Along with Take a Break and parental supervision features, this includes the likes of Quiet Mode. The latter enables teens to mute notifications, automatically reply to messages and let their friends and followers know that they're unavailable and doing something else, such as studying or sleeping.

It's almost time to take a peek at some of what Xbox has in store for gamers this year. The Xbox Developer Direct, Microsoft's first game showcase of 2024, takes place today. It starts at 3PM ET and you can watch it below.

The biggest news from the stream is likely to come in the form of MachineGames' Indiana Jones project. We'll get our first peek at gameplay three years after Microsoft announced the title, and learn details about the characters and setting. MachineGames will deliver over 10 minutes of game and developer insights.

Elsewhere, fans will get more information on Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and Ara: History Untold. Unfortunately, it seems that Xbox won't suddenly release a new game during the showcase, as it did with Hi-Fi Rush during the last Developer Direct a year ago. "All the games in this year’s Developer Direct will be arriving later, with more details to be shared in the program," an Xbox blog post reads.

Although Microsoft won't share news on any Activision Blizzard games during the Developer Direct, you can tune in to a livestream earlier in the day for a Diablo IV Developer Update. That starts at noon ET on the Diablo YouTube and Twitch channels. You'll learn about gameplay updates for the next season, along with details on quality-of-life improvements, Season Journey and The Gauntlet.

Elder Scrolls Online fans will probably want to stick around after the Developer Direct ends. Starting at 4PM ET on the Bethesda Twitch channel and Xbox YouTube and Twitch channels, they'll get a look at the MMORPG's next major chapter, with details on the new zone, storyline and other key features.

Sony is continuing to mine its back catalog of games for movie adaptations while conveniently continuing to forget that Bloodborne is right there. The next game that's bound for the big screen is Until Dawn, a 2015 interactive horror title that Supermassive Games developed and Sony published.

David F. Sandberg (Lights Out and the Shazam! movies) will direct the adaptation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Gary Dauberman, who previously worked on Annabelle: Creation with Sandberg, is taking a fresh stab at a script originally written by Blair Butler (The Invitation).

Until Dawn focuses on a group of eight young people who try to survive the night at a perilous mountain retreat. The spooky game has a branching narrative and, depending on the decisions you make (or if you fail at quick-time events), some of the characters may not make it until the group is rescued the following morning.

Given that any or all of the characters may perish during the night, there are hundreds of possible endings to the game, so it'll be interesting to see which direction Sandberg and Dauberman take with the material. Several notable actors appeared in Until Dawn, including Hayden Panettiere, Jordan Fisher and Oscar winner Rami Malek.

Sony has already adapted several of its games into film and TV properties, with live-action versions of Uncharted (another movie pastiche that itself became a film), Gran Turismo, Twisted Metal and The Last of Us popping up over the last couple of years. Sony also has adaptations of Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War and others in the pipeline.

Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S24 devices at its first Unpacked of the year. As expected, the three smartphones have a heavy focus on artificial intelligence-powered features, from the likes of live translations to image editing.

Galaxy AI, as Samsung is calling the devices’ overarching AI system, is behind a number of communication-focused functions. For one thing, Galaxy S24 devices will natively support live, two-way translations on phone calls without the need for a third-party app, Samsung says. Since processing for most AI features is handled on-device with the help of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Chipset and its neural processing unit, the conversations will stay private (well, aside from eavesdroppers who might catch one half of the chat). You'll have the option to entirely disable online processing of data for any AI features.

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

On a similar note, on-device processing also means that you won’t need cellular data or Wi-Fi connections to use AI features such as Interpreter. This enables you to display split-screen translations of an in-person conversation. Your device will also be able to generate transcripts of recordings — these can be summarized or translated as needed.

When it comes to dashing off text-based messages, Samsung says its Chat Assist feature can help you find the right tone. Samsung Keyboard can translate messages between 13 languages too. A Note Assist function in Samsung Notes can summarize texts, generate templates and create covers to help you identify the note you’re looking for.

Meanwhile, as you’re driving, Android Auto can summarize incoming messages and suggest relevant responses and actions for you to approve via voice command. These could include things like telling someone your estimated time of arrival.

A new search experience means that you'll be able to draw a circle around something on your screen and see related results from Google. Depending on your location and the search query, you may see an AI-generated overview that pulls information from the web to offer context and more details.

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

AI will be a driving force behind the Galaxy S24 lineup's camera systems too. Samsung suggests it will help with digital zoom, image stabilization and when capturing photos and videos in low-light. A Super HDR feature is designed to help you see a lifelike preview of an image before pressing the shutter button.

When it comes to image editing, the suite of AI tools might come in useful. Galaxy AI will offer suggested tweaks to improve a photo, while the Generative Edit function can fill in parts of an image's background. This may prove handy if a shot is crooked and you want to straighten it, as the feature should let you move the subject and fix the background. Of note, you will need a network connection to use Generative Fill. Also, whenever you use generative AI to modify a photo, your phone will apply a watermark to the image and its metadata.

If you want to slow down a video that has a lot of activity, the Instant Slow-mo feature might help out. Samsung says this can generate extra frames based on movements in the original video to slow down the action smoothly. Last but not least, the camera systems in certain Galaxy S models feature HDR integration with third-party social apps. This means that when you look up an image in Gallery or your Instagram feed or reels, you'll see photos and videos in Super HDR.

It's little surprise that Samsung is going all in on AI with its latest Galaxy phones. The company previewed its AI models at the tail end of 2023, and word at the time suggested Samsung would deploy those functions broadly in the following months. Moreover, Samsung needs to keep pace with Google, which has been focusing more on AI features on Pixel phones for the last few years. Recent Pixel models are able to handle AI processing on-device too.

PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to claim a brand new game at no extra cost in February. Square Enix's Foamstars, which bears some similarities to Nintendo's Splatoon series, will be available as part of the PS Plus Essential monthly lineup starting on February 6. If you claim it by March 4, you'll be able to play the PS4 and PS5 exclusive as long as your subscription is active. After March 4, the game will cost $30, though you'll still need a PS Plus subscription to play it since it's an online multiplayer title.

In this 4v4 game, you'll try to coat as much of an arena in your team's color of foam as possible. Doing so will give your team an advantage and stymie your opponents. Where Foamstars differs from Splatoon is that foam is a 3D substance. You can slide around the battlefield on and flank enemies to eliminate them. The characters each have distinct abilities and there will be several game modes available from the jump, including one in which you dance on a duck's head to push it toward a finish line. Solo missions are available too.

Debuting the game on PS Plus seems like a smart move for Square Enix. Some other multiplayer titles (particularly Rocket League and Fall Guys) arrived on PS Plus on their launch days and went on to enjoy massive success.

There's one aspect of Foamstars that might put some folks off of checking it out, however. Square Enix says developer Toylogic used Midjourney to create some AI-generated artwork for the game.

“AI was used in the creation of the in-game album covers for the music featured in the Foamstars' soundtrack," Square Enix told VGC in a statement. “In this instance, we experimented with Midjourney using simple prompts to produce abstract images. We loved what was created and used them as the final album covers players will see in the game. Everything else was created entirely by our development team.”

Producer Kosuke Okatani estimated that AI-generated art made up around 0.01 percent or less of the game's artwork, with artists creating the rest by hand. Earlier this month, Square Enix said it would be "aggressively applying" AI and other tech this year to "create new forms of content."

Life's busy enough for many of us without having to get bogged down in day-to-day home maintenance. So, if you have some cash to spare, why not make things easier for yourself by splurging on a robot vacuum? Several iRobot Roomba models are up to 50 percent off in a sale on Amazon. Some have dropped to record low prices, including the iRobot Roomba 694. At $160, that model is 42 percent off its usual price of $275.

Although it's not the first time the 694 has dropped to this price, it's always worth calling out since this is our top pick for the best budget robot vacuum. It's easy to use thanks to the three onboard buttons and connected iRobot app. There's Alexa and Google Assistant support too, so you can instruct the vacuum to start cleaning with a voice command.

You can set cleaning schedules so that the 694 travels through your home on a regular basis to pick up any dirt and we found that it does a solid job of lifting muck from carpets as well as hard flooring. Battery life varies depending on the type of flooring. According to iRobot, the device will run for up to 90 minutes while cleaning hardwood floors but in our testing the battery lasted around 45 minutes when it was deployed over several types of surfaces. Of course, when it's time to recharge, the Roomba will return to its dock and juice up.

On the downside, you only get the essentials you need to get started — the 694 doesn't come with any replacement filters or brushes. But given that you'd be saving well over $100 on this model thanks to the sale, you might be able to set aside some funds to buy those when the time comes.

Those who are looking for some added features may be more interested in the Roomba j9+, which is also down to a record low. At $599, it's $300 off the regular price. According to iRobot, the Roomba j9+ "sucks up dust and debris better than any other robot vacuum." It also has a Dirt Detective feature through which it can learn the areas of your home that tend to get the dirtiest, so it knows which rooms to prioritize, the level of suction to apply and how many cleaning passes are likely to be needed.

The Roomba j9+ can detect and avoid common obstacles such as cables and socks. Perhaps most importantly, it can spot and stay clear of pet waste. This model will also automatically empty its bin, which means you have even less to worry about.

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